As construction of the Jefferson Performing Arts Center continues to drag and the state legislative auditor investigates how the overdue, over-budget project got so far off track, parish officials said Wednesday they hope two new contract extensions will be the final steps needed to complete the Metairie theater. Brett Duke/The Times-Picayune archiveTwo walkers exercise in April on the jogging...
As construction of the Jefferson Performing Arts Center continues to drag and the state legislative auditor investigates how the overdue, over-budget project got so far off track, parish officials said Wednesday they hope two new contract extensions will be the final steps needed to complete the Metairie theater.
Two walkers exercise in April on the jogging path around the Jefferson Performing Arts Center, where construction is behind schedule and over budget.The Parish Council extended two contracts with the firm Perrin & Carter, one for construction oversight and the other for redesigning parts of the Airline Drive building that officials say were poorly planned by the building's first architect.
The extensions keep Perrin & Carter on the job through 2011, adding $417,960 for another year of re-engineering, raising the total to $2.3 million, and $150,000 for another year of construction management, raising the total to $1.6 million.
With a price tag of $44.7 million, the construction alone has surpassed the building's original budget by 68 percent.
The parish is suing the original architect, Marcel Wisznia, alleging that his design flaws led to dozens of costly complications that became apparent only after construction got underway in 2007. Wisznia has defended his work.
Perrin & Carter took over management of the project in 2007.
"It's an unfortunate situation," Parish Council member Chris Roberts told critics of the project.
"I don't think you'll find that anyone on this council is happy with the way this has unfolded," he said, referring to an architect who submitted "willfully insufficient" designs.
"Nonetheless, we can't leave a building there on Airline unfinished."
Roberts said Steve Theriot, while interim parish president earlier this year, asked the legislative auditor to examine the project. Roberts said investigators contacted him in recent weeks. Reda Youssef, the parish's capital projects director, said auditors met with him about three months ago.
The legislative auditor's office, which Theriot headed before becoming interim parish president, has not yet issued a report.
Youssef and Elton Lagasse, the Parish Council member whose district includes the center, said they think the project has moved beyond the thicket of discovering more problems and is finally in its final stretch.
"I think it's shaping up," Youssef said. "I think it's moving in the right direction. It's going to be beautiful."
Problems that held up construction and required redesigning included support beams that blocked doorways, an insufficient number of fire exits, a roof drainage system that was said to be impossible to build and failed to meet codes and exterior insulation panels that were too weak for the building's size and have gone out of production since construction began.
Youssef estimated the center will open in November, later than the previous estimate of early 2011. It was originally scheduled for completion in early 2009.
The state agreed to cover the original estimated cost of construction, $26.6 million, plus another $750,000 approved this year. The parish is on the hook for the remaining cost overruns.
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Mark Waller can be reached at mwaller@timespicayune.com or 504.883.7056.